Kent Global Leadership Program on Conflict Resolution

Inaugural Event

FALL 2020

About the Program

The School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University is launching the Kent Global Leadership Program on Conflict Resolution to help prepare the next generation of global practitioners for the increasingly complex challenges posed by contemporary conflict.

The program's foundation is an intensive week-long training session for professionals from governments and inter-governmental institutions held annually in New York City, beginning in summer 2020.

The program will also sponsor on-campus events and workshops during the academic year, a visiting professorship, fellowships for outstanding SIPA graduate students, and new research. Sustained by the generous support and vision of Muhtar Kent, the program will be directed by Professor Edward C. Luck.

A number of factors, such as the prominence of non-state armed groups and the employment of terrorist tactics, sexual and gender-based violence, the incidence of atrocity crimes, and the exacerbation of environmental and resource stressors, have greatly complicated efforts to resolve conflicts and protect populations.

The peacemakers of tomorrow will need better solutions.

Over the coming years, the program will develop a global network of alumni, instructors, scholars, and practitioners devoted to advancing our understanding of ways to enhance conflict resolution.